Realism is a philosophical view that believes reality exists independently of human consciousness. Key aspects of realism include the belief that objects have an absolute existence independent of perception, and that reality operates based on natural laws. Prominent realist philosophers include Aristotle, Aquinas, Bacon, Locke, and modern thinkers like Putnam and Searle. Realism emphasizes using the senses and scientific inquiry to understand the material world. It supports a curriculum focused on practical subjects, and teaching methods centered around observation, critical thinking, and mastery of facts.

1. REALISM

2. WHAT IS
REALISM?
Derived from a Greek word, “Res”
which means real

3. WHAT IS REALISM ?
REALISM IS :
• The belief in a reality that is completely
ontologically independent of our
conceptual schemes, linguistic practices,
beliefs, etc.
• A philosophy that things exist objectively.

4. WHAT IS REALISM ? (cont)
• A doctrine that the objects of our senses
exist independently of their being known
or perceived by mind.
• Deals with the fact that reality has an
absolute existence independent from our
thoughts, ideas and even consciousness.

5. “Realism is the reinforcement of our
common acceptance of this world as
it appears to us.” – Butler
“The doctrine of realism asserts that
there is a real world of things behind
and corresponding to the objects of
perception.” – J.S Ross

6. CLASSICAL
REALIST
Aristotle
St. Thomas Aquinas

7. ARISTOTLE
• Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
• Greek Philosopher
• First prominent Realist
philosophers
• Father of Realism
• A pupil of Plato
• A teacher of Alexander the
Great

8. Aristotelian Realism
• Aristotle explained that each object “had its
own ‘soul’ that directs it in the right way.
Statement:
A kitten is a kitten is a kitten.
A kitten will grow into a cat
but it will never become a tree
Principle:
Design and order are present in
the universe.

9. • Aristotle also explained that “A tree can exist without
matter, but no matter can exist without form.”
Question: How can a tree exist without
matter—how is that possible?
Answer: Before they were made, they started
as an idea in someone's head and it
did not exist.
Logical Explanation:
A chair can exist in
someone's head; you can sit
on a chair but not on an idea of a
chair.

10. • He mentioned that each thing has a purpose
or function. The most important thing we can
ask about objects is about their purposes.
Question:
What is the purpose of humanity?
Answer:
“Because humans are the only
creatures endowed with the ability
to think, their purpose is to use
this ability.”

11. • Human’s highest characteristic is thinking. We
achieve our true purpose when we think. When we
refuse to think, we go against the design of the
universe and the reason for our creation.
Aristotle’s Golden Mean
(a path between extremes)
 The person who follows a true purpose leads a
rational life of moderation, avoiding extremes.
 Good education helps to achieve the Golden Mean.
 Aristotle believed that our good comes through
thinking

12. • He also believed that knowledge of a thing
requires an explanation of causality (why it
is) or it known as Four Courses :
I. Material cause (the substance of which the
thing is made);
II. Formal cause (its design);
III. Efficient cause (its maker or builder); and,
IV. Final cause (its purpose or function).

13. • Aristotle is also concerned with logic. The logical
method he developed was the syllogism.
Example :
Deductive Logic
All men are
mortal.
Danial is a man.
Therefore, Danial
is mortal.
Inductive Logic
Barney is mortal.
Sam is mortal.
James is mortal.
All three are men.
So, men are
mortal.

14. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
• St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
• Italian Priest
• Thomism – Roman Catholic
• Reconciled Aristotelian philosophy
with Christian concepts
• Word of God (faith) = Thinking of
Aristotle
• Reason and faith = Harmonious
realms

15. • First encountered the work of Aristotle while
studying in Naples.
• Became a leading authority on Aristotle in the
Middle Ages
• Author of De Magistro (On the Teacher) and
Summa Theologica.
• He accepted Aristotle's view that a human has
matter and a mind or a body and a soul.
• He also believed that our highest good comes
through thinking because we are children of
God, our best thinking should agree with
Christian tenets.

16. St. Aquinas’ Beliefs
• Aquinas epitomized the scholasticism of the
Middle Ages.
• Scholasticism is an approach that
emphasized the human’s eternal soul and
salvation.
• Only God can touch the soul because
Aquinas believed that God is the Ultimate
Teacher.
• A teacher can only 'point' the way to
knowledge.

17. • Teaching is a way to serve humankind; it
is part of God's work.
“Leading the student from ignorance to
enlightenment is one of the greatest
services one person can give to another.”

18. MODERN REALIST
FRANCIS BACON
&
JOHN LOCKE

19. FRANCIS BACON
• Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
• Born in London, England
• Father of modern science
• Originator of the expression
“Knowledge is Power.”

20. Francis Bacon Realism
• In Novum Organum, he challenged Aristotelian
logic.
• Believed science was 'delayed' by Aristotelian
thinking
• Aristotelian logic was flawed, according to Bacon,
due to theological dogmatism and prior
assumptions and it led to false deductions.
• Science must be concerned with inquiry and not
pre-conceived notions.
• Science was a tool for creating new knowledge.
• Originator of the expression: “Knowledge is Power”

21. Francis Bacon Realism
• Focused on scientific—or inductive—
method uncovered errors in assumptions
previously taken for granted.
• Induction reasoning is being used
• Human knowledge is divided into 3:
I. History – activity of memory
II. Poetry – activity of imagination
III. Philosophy – activity of reason

22. Francis Bacon Realism
• Believed we should examine all previously accepted
knowledge;
• We should rid ourselves of four idols that we 'bow
down' before
I. Idol of the Den (beliefs due to limited experience)
II. Idol of the Tribe (believing because most people
believe)
III. Idol of the Marketplace (beliefs due to misuse of
words)
IV. Idol of the Theatre (subjective beliefs coloured by
religion and personal philosophy)

23. JOHN LOCKE
• John Locke (1632-1704)
• Medical researcher &
followed the work of
Francis Bacon
• Oxford scholar; medical
researcher, physician
• An empiricist
• Authored Some Thoughts
Concerning Education

24. John Locke Realism
• Locke believed that we are born with a variety of
faculties: enable us to receive and process information
(the senses, memory, ability to use language etc) and to
manipulate it once we have it
• But there are no such things as innate ideas: mind at
birth is a tabula rasa (young minds are not affected by
experience)
• As an empiricist, he believed that all ideas are acquired
from sources independent of the mind, through
experience.
• From educational views: children should be taught as
emerging adults because they are rational creatures.

25. Alfred North Whitehead
Bertrand Russell
Hilary Putnam
John R. Searle

26. “The important things to be learned
are ideas, but the ideas need to be
connected with experiences.”
“He believed philosophy should be
analytical and based on science.”

27. ALFRED WHITEHEAD &
BERTRAND RUSSELL
• Both born in England
• Collaborated on mathematical
writings
• Eventually came to teach in the
United States
• Both wrote about education
• Co-authored Principia
Mathematica
• Bertrand Russell was a pupil of
Alfred Whitehead.

28. Alfred Whitehead (1861-1947)
• Led to philosophy through the study of
mathematics at age 63
• Tried to reconcile some aspects of
Idealism with Realism
• Process is central to his philosophy—
reality is a process.
• Philosophy is a search for a pattern in
the universe: (Can a fish read?)
• The most important things to be learned
are ideas.
• Education should be concerned with
living ideas—ideas connected to the
experience of learners.

29. Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)
• Student of Alfred Whitehead
• Taught at Cambridge, the
University of California
• Imprisoned for pacifist activities
• Founded a school called
Beacon Hill
• Two kinds of reality: hard data
and soft data

30. Hilary Putnam (1926- now)
• Taught at Northwestern, MIT, and
finally Harvard
• The changes in science influence the
philosophy of realism
• Coined the term 'internal realism'
• Physicists have introduced a 'cut'
between the observer and the
universe. The universe is too large
and too complex for us to understand.
Forced to observe universe with our
own limited resources.
• Science will continue to influence the
philosophy of realism

31. John R. Searle (1932- now)
• Accepts the traditional view of
Realism
• Coined the term 'social reality'
• Does reality in the universe just
consist of physical particles
and fields of force?
• Social reality created by human
consciousness

32. FORM OF REALISM
Humanistic/Verbal
Social
Sense/Scientific
Neo

33. HUMANISTIC/VERBAL REALISM
• The reaction against the emphasise on form
and style of the old classical literature
• It has a great regard for the ancient literature but
it emphasizes the study of content and ideas
in the ancient classical literature to understand
one's present social life and environment
• The aim is not to study the form and style of old
literature but to have mastery over it. The study
of old literature is a means to understand the
practical life.

34. • Humanists believed that classical literature
should be studied for the information and
knowledge of the facts of the pasts*
• Erasmus (1446-1537 ), Rabelais (1483-
1553), John Milton (1608-1674) were the
supporters of this faculty.

35. SOCIAL REALISM
• The reaction against a type of
education that produces scholars and
professional men to the neglect of the
man of affairs i.e. practice.
• According to social realists, the purpose of
education is to prepare the practical
man of the world.*
• Education should not produce men who
are unfit in social life.

36. • Social realism explains that education
should equip learners for a happy and
successful life as a man of the world.
• Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) was
the main supporter of this faculty.

37. SENSE REALISM
• The sense realism in education
emphasizes the training of the senses.
• Senses are the gateways of knowledge
and learning takes place the operation of
the senses.
• According to sense-realists, nature is the
treasure house of all knowledge and this
knowledge can be obtained through the
training of the senses.

38. • The sense-realists emphasized the three
things:
Application of inductive method formulated
by Bacon in order to organize and simplify the
instructional process
To replace instruction in Latin by the
instruction in Vernacular
To substitute new scientific and social
studies in place of the studies in language
and literature

39. NEO REALISM
• A philosophical thought
• It appears the methods and results of modern
development in physics.
• Bertrand Russel and Whitehead were the
supporters of this faculty.

40. • Neo realists:
 express the changeability in scientific principles
as they do not consider the principles everlasting.
 support the education of art with the science and
analytical system of education with the humanistic
feelings.
 consider living and non-living things all exist to be the
organs and the development of organs is the main
objective and the whole development of the objects is
the main characteristic of education

41. FORM OF
REALISM
HUMANISTIC (VERBAL)
REALISM
A reaction against
emphasis on form & style
of old classical literature
SOCIAL REALISM
A reaction against
production of scholars &
professional men & neglect
of practice
SENSE (SCIENTIFIC)
REALISM
A reaction that emphasizes
on the training of the senses.
NEO REALISM
A philosophical
thought

42. REALISM AND EDUCATION
Aims (idealism vs. realism)
Curriculum
Method of teaching
The teacher
School organization

43. AIMS
• Understanding the material world through inquiry
• A study of science and the scientific method
• A need to know the world in order to ensure survival
and good life
• Basic, essential knowledge with a no-nonsense
approach
• Transmit culture and develop human nature

44. AIMS (IDEALISM VS. REALISM)
IDEALISM REALISM
1) the aim of education should be
directed toward the search for true
ideas.
1) To teach truth rather than
beauty, to understand the present
practical life
2) What they want in society is not
just the literate, knowledgeable
person but the good person as
well
2) To provide the students with
essential knowledge he will need to
survive in the natural world.
3) idealists place less stress on
physical and material studies
than they do on studies that are
nonphysical, abstract, and universal
3) Importance of material studies
such as science

45. In general :
Realist believes that education should:
• Transmit culture
• Develop human nature
• Provide man with basic education needed for
his survival

46. The Realist Curriculum
• Problem-centered (subject-centered)
• Practical and useful
• Highly organized and systematic
• Physical activity has educational value (Locke)
• Extensive use of pictures (Comenius)
• Attention to the complete person (Locke)
• Use of objects in education (Maria Montessori)
• Highly organized, separate and systematically arranged (Science,
Social Sciences and Mathematics)

47. Realist Method Of Teaching
• Emphasis on critical reasoning through observation
• Supports accountability and performance-based
teaching
• Scientific research and development
• Mastery of facts: Recitation, experimentation,
demonstration, drills, exercises
• Education should proceed from simple to complex
and from concrete to abstract.

48. • Enhanced learning thru direct or indirect
experiences: Field trips, lectures, films, TV,
audio-visual aids, computer technology &
library.
• Learning is based on facts – analysis –
questioning.
• Vernacular to be the medium of instruction.
• Precision and order: ringing bells, time periods,
daily lesson plans, pre-packaged curriculum
materials
• Children should be given positive rewards

49. Realism and the Teacher
• A teacher should be educated and well versed with the customs
of belief and rights and duties of people, and the trends.
• He must have full masteryof the knowledge of present life.
• He must be able to expose and guide the student towards the
hard realities of life. (neither pessimist, nor optimist)
• He must be able to co-relate between utility in daily life and
education.
• He should define simple rules.
• He should teach subjects in proper order.
• He needs to find out the interest of the child and to teach
accordingly.

50. School Organization Influenced by Realism
• 1) School organization would be based on the real
needs of society. (not due to politics)
• 2) The opening of science classes in every school
is a must.
• 3) Co-education is a natural happening so it cannot
be rejected.
• 4) School is the mirror of the society. It is a
miniature form of society and it presents the real
picture of the society.